Skip to content

What Do Scientists Do?

Original price £12.00 - Original price £12.00
Original price
£12.00
£12.00 - £12.00
Current price £12.00
SKU S34CS40900
Key Stage 2Animals including humansLiving things and their habitatsPlantsWorking ScientificallyScienceYear 3Year 4
Checkout securely using your preferred payment method
    American Express Apple Pay Diners Club Discover Google Pay Maestro Mastercard PayPal Union Pay Visa

These Scientific Enquiry KS2 lessons explore the world of science and investigate the different areas that people work in. Let your class have a go at being forensic scientists, zoologists, botanists and more as they develop their knowledge of the scientific method and working scientifically in this six-lesson scheme for Years 3 and 4.

 
#TheCompleteSeries6lessons

This scheme of work is also part of a Topic Bundle. Perfect if you are teaching 'Achievers and Inventors' as a cross-curricular topic.

#Lesson1TheScientificMethod

Set the foundation of your scientific enquiry KS2 investigations in this first lesson.

Use the included lesson slides to take a look into the world of science and explore the three main branches of chemistry, biology and physics. Challenge your class to think about their own idea of what a scientist looks like and the skills they might need as a scientist. Then challenge the children to investigate scientific enquiry - the method scientists use to conduct reliable experiments.

 

 

What's included:

  • Lesson plan
  • Slides
  • Activity ideas
  • Scientific method steps
  • Differentiated worksheets
  • Science career fact cards
  • Challenge cards
  • Fact file template
#Lesson2Forensics

Have you ever wondered how science could help solve a crime? Allow your class to explore the job of a forensic scientist and how they use their knowledge of chemistry, biology and physics to analyse and match evidence to help solve crimes. Discover how fingerprints can be analysed and matched, using careful observation skills, and generate interesting enquiry questions.

 

 

What's included:

  • Lesson plan
  • Slides
  • Activity ideas
  • Differentiated worksheets
  • Fingerprint pattern card
  • Suspect sheet
#Lesson3Pharmacology

Explore how a microbiologist or pharmacologist uses scientific enquiry to develop new medicines for humans to use. Show your class how fair testing is an important part of the scientific process and how they can plan and conduct fair tests themselves. Encourage your class to identify the dependent, independent and control variables in their own and other experiments.

 

 

What's included:

  • Lesson plan
  • Slides
  • Activity ideas
  • Differentiated worksheets
  • Experiment card
  • Teacher notes
#Lesson4Zoology

What does a zoologist’s job involve? Discover the studies of zoologists and how they must use careful observation skills to record the natural behaviours, appearances and environments of different animals. Challenge your class to develop their own observation skills to identify and classify different birds based on their physical features. Can the children work out what behaviours a bird might have from looking at the bird’s feet?

 

 

What's included:

  • Lesson plan
  • Slides
  • Activity ideas
  • Differentiated worksheets
  • Bird cards
  • Classification card
  • Animal information card
#Lesson5Botany

How does a plant scientist help an astronaut? Discover the answer with your class as you explore the role and research of botanists. Challenge your class to think about what helps plants grow well and conduct an experiment to test their own hypotheses. Recap on fair testing and allow your children to plan how they will carry out an investigation and record their results.

 

 

What's included:

  • Lesson plan
  • Slides
  • Activity ideas
  • Differentiated worksheets
  • Tree ID sheet
#Lesson6SportsScience

How do we know what is healthy? Investigate the human body and how it moves with your class. Explore how muscles work in pairs to move and discuss the work of sports scientists and nutritionists which helps athletes and sportspeople to give their very best performances. Have your class use their understanding of the scientific method to create an experiment to test and improve their reactions.

 

 

What's included:

  • Lesson plan
  • Slides
  • Activity ideas
  • Differentiated worksheets
Free Overview (Medium-Term Plan)

Download a free overview to support your teaching of this scheme of work.

Free Assessment Grid

Download a free, editable assessment grid to support your teaching of this scheme of work.

Curriculum Objectives covered

Year 3/4 Working Scientifically Objectives

  • asking relevant questions and using different types of scientific enquiries to answer them
  • setting up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests
  • making systematic and careful observations and, where appropriate, taking accurate measurements using standard units, using a range of equipment, including thermometers and data loggers
  • gathering, recording, classifying and presenting data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions
  • recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts, and tables
  • reporting on findings from enquiries, including oral and written explanations, displays or presentations of results and conclusions
  • using results to draw simple conclusions, make predictions for new values, suggest improvements and raise further questions
  • identifying differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes
  • using straightforward scientific evidence to answer questions or to support their findings

Year 3 Plants Objectives

  • explore the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and room to grow) and how they vary from plant to plant

Year 3 Animals, including Humans Objectives

  • identify that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat

Year 4 Living things and their Habitats Objectives

  • recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways
  • explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment
  • recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things

Customer Reviews

Based on 5 reviews
80%
(4)
20%
(1)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
K
Katie Evans

What Do Scientists Do?

Thanks, Katie!

D
Donna Bain

I am sure that my class will thoroughly enjoy this topic which I am planning to teach in the 2nd Summer term. I like these resources because they are age appropriate, have interactive resources and are easy to teach and follow

V
Viv Letsu

My year 4s are loving this unit! It's great to have a unit of work explain the process of scientific enquiry in such a fun way.

H
Helen W

Clear well presented resource that I will use in class but also for assembly presentations

A
Angela Waites Waites

Great cross-curricular planning which will inspire children to become scientists and includes practical investigations.